


Pointy Eared Halfling

by TheVelvetCoatedWonder



Series: Lotor Appreciation Week 2018 [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Bonding, Cultural Differences, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'm acknowledging Lotor is Space!Legolas, Lotor Appreciation Week, Lotor Appreciation Week 2018, M/M, pop culture references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-16 15:38:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14814156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheVelvetCoatedWonder/pseuds/TheVelvetCoatedWonder
Summary: Lotor has never liked his ears. Lance gives him new perspective in a way only someone who had a childhood crush on Orlando Bloom could.





	Pointy Eared Halfling

**Author's Note:**

> Lotor Appreciation Week  
> Prompt Day One: Altean/Galra

The Paladins of Voltron and Princess Allura might have been surprised at Lotor’s willingness to work with them and abandon his place within the Galra empire, but Lotor thought they failed to realize he’d never had a place within the Galra empire to begin with.

Lotor understood Allura’s shock at his Altean heritage, but he’d known of it and all that it entailed since his start at the Galra military academy. At the very beginning of his time there he’d been told by a snide instructor that the emperor could claim Lotor as heir as loudly as he liked, it didn’t change the fact that Lotor was a filthy half breed unfit to sit on the Galra throne.

Even as the heir apparent and only son of the Emperor, Lotor still faced defamation and ridicule. It had followed him for his entire life from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. No matter how many fleets he commanded, no matter how many battles he won or planets he conquered, Lotor could not overcome the derision his own people held for him. In a culture of interbreeding and merit above bloodline, Lotor should have thrived. Instead, the open secret of his Altean heritage singled him out and kept him apart. 

He had much in his looks going against him- his height and build were shorter and slighter relative to other Galra, and his white hair and delicate features were also at odds, but damning were his ears. The unmistakable pointed ears of Altean blood somewhere in his immediate bloodline branded Lotor an outcast from the moment he left the royal nursery and entered the public eye. His entire life he’d endured dismissive attitudes from his peers and spent his childhood on the outside looking in. He was a symbol of the empire who’d come before the Galra, a relic from a forgotten time. 

So while he understood their hesitation, Lotor wished he could show them it was unfounded. Voltron was a ragtag band of rebels with no one except each other, and Lotor knew what that felt like, had possessed it himself at one point before he’d had to abandon his generals. Even as he and the Voltron team began to work together, he worried he didn’t fit with them either. Perhaps Lotor was too Altean for the Galra, but too Galra for the Alteans.

Lotor’s ears had brought him so much scorn that when the Blue Paladin gave Lotor an off handed compliment about how pretty they were, Lotor thought Lance was setting up a cruel joke. He’d glared at him, telling him that he was well aware of their strangeness. Lance immediately got a wide eyed wounded look, throwing his hands up and flailing as he awkwardly attempted to explain he’d meant no offense. 

After a few minutes of Lance explaining his childhood crush on a character named “Legolas” who’d also had pointed ears and long, light-colored hair, Lotor could feel the tips of his own ears burning. Apparently, he was exceedingly beautiful by earthen standards. The sentiment was… flattering.

Lance explained that Legolas braided his hair to show off his ears and keep it out of his face while he fought. Lotor had never braided his hair, as doing so would have only brought more attention to his strangeness.

But Lotor was no longer among the Galra, so there was no need to hide the Altean parts of himself. Lotor had left people and places and parts of himself behind before, and the Galran outcast would be one personhood he would be especially happy to leave behind. 

When the rest of the paladins gathered in the common area for dinner, they saw Lance and Lotor sitting cross-legged. Lance was detailing the plot of The Fellowship of the Ring to Lotor while braiding his hair to look like the Elven prince Lance had crushed on as a kid.

Lotor was listening with rapt attention to Lance’s story. He couldn’t help but think that each of the paladins sounded rather like each of the characters in the fellowship, and maybe here, with people whose stories had such a colorful cast of characters, he could make a place for himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I have an instagram account @velvetcoatedwonder where I posted a coordinating cosplay to this fic v.v
> 
> Edit: Posting this shit after the week is over and after season six is over. Oh how things have changed. I still love him tho so expect more probably.


End file.
